


Welcome To The Velvet Room, Big Bro!

by LanceMcFlurry



Category: Persona 4
Genre: But it's not the complete main focus, Fluff I think, Its kinda everybody, Kinda, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Velvet Room (Persona Series), Velvet Room AU, Velvet Room Attendant Tohru Adachi, Velvet Room Attendant Yosuke Hanamura, nanako takes igor's place, so a close friend of mine had an idea-, souyo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27428086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanceMcFlurry/pseuds/LanceMcFlurry
Summary: Everything changed when Yu Narukami moved to Inaba to live with his uncle for a year. Things were pretty normal at first until he seemingly dozed off while on his train ride to the small town. When he woke up he was sitting in a fancy limousine. In front of him appeared a small girl with silver pigtails and a cute blue outfit and sharp golden eyes. "W-welcome To the Velvet Room..."
Relationships: Adachi Tohru & Narukami Yu, Dojima Nanako & Seta Souji, Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji, idk if i'm doin this right bc it's a friendship thing uwu
Comments: 21
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nightmare_Uchiha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightmare_Uchiha/gifts).



> Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy  
> So a close friend of mine had an idea- I took it- still theirs tho  
> Also because having three velvet room assistants feels weird to me, Nanako replaces Igor here.

Everything started when his parents told him they were going overseas and that he’d be staying with his uncle.

He was numb to it at this point, his parents were always away and he wasn’t sure on why this time would be different. Apparently, this time, they’d be gone for a year or so. It still didn’t matter, if anything, they technically were gone for years considering how much they were gone regularly. Yu didn’t protest, it might be good to get a change of scenery anyway. He hadn’t seen his uncle in a long time…

Now he was on the train, awaiting his destination of the small town of Inaba. The train ride took a few hours, and so far he had nothing to do but look out at the scenery. Slowly, the setting transitioned from city lights and big buildings to long fields and rolling hills. It was foreign to him but extremely nice to take in as he leaned against the window, slowly drifting off to sleep.

That’s when things got weird.

Yu didn’t realize it immediately, but he did indeed fall asleep while on the train. Not wanting to feel drowsy once he got off the train, he tried forcing himself awake. To his surprise, he wasn’t on the train anymore. Instead, he was in a limousine. 

The interior was almost all a deep blue with hints of black on small cabinets. There were a few drinks sitting on a rack to his left, a couple of seats to his left and in front of him, and in the center, a small table with a blue cloth over it. There were also windows that were foggy and lined with blue curtains. Yu couldn’t help but look out the window to see that the car was moving. He raised a brow, the aura of the room was keeping him much calmer than he usually would be if this were any other circumstance. Especially since everything seemed so real. He could even feel the fabric of the chair he was sitting on.

“Uhm…” He heard a small voice in front of him and turned to face it. Sitting in the cushion in front of him was a small girl, about six or so, appearing out of thin air. She had silky looking silver hair that was tied in low pigtails. She also had a small blue flower that sat atop her head. She wore a blue dress with a cute bow below her collar. The dress had a belt in which it was a darker shade of blue and the bottom hem of her skirt was darker than the upper portion but lighter than the belt which he just noticed had a golden loop. He hadn’t ever seen her before.

The little girl’s golden eyes gazed at her own legs, her face was dripping with guilt and chagrin as she couldn’t hold her gaze with Yu. She was gripping on the chair she was sitting on in frustration as she spoke. 

“W-welcome..to the Velvet Room…” she feebly answered. Yu shifted a bit, He wasn’t sure if he should (or could) say anything to her. In fact, he just noticed he was glued to his seat. Yu didn’t panic, but he was fidgeting with his hands now. The girl continued to talk.

“My...my name is Nanako…”Her voice was barely above a whisper. Yu tilted his head, as if to ask what was wrong. Nanako tilted her head back at him, “Hm? Oh…” She looked down again and scratched her cheek sheepishly, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t have enough magic to let you speak in here…” She looked ashamed of herself. Yu shook his head and waved a hand dismissively as if to tell her that it was okay, and it wasn’t what he was worried about. Nanako got the message and sighed, “Oh, are you okay?”

Yu nodded and motioned back to her. Nanako’s eyes widened slightly and she looked down, feeling a little better about herself, “Y-yes, I’m okay…”She grimaced a little, “It’s just...it’s your first time here and I wasn’t ready yet! I wasn’t even here to greet you…” So that’s what she was upset about… Yu gave her a gentle smile, as if to say that it was okay or that he didn’t mind at all and it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nanako flashed a sad smile, still looking down. However, she continued on.

“What is yo- oh...Uh..” She hesitated, realizing that her guest wasn’t allowed to speak. She conjured up a small piece of paper out of thin air. She then flinched and made it disappear before making a bigger paper appear, this one had words on it though. She grabbed it and began reading off of it.

“Erm...W-welcome to the Velvet Ro-..I-i already said that…”She pouted to herself, embarrassed. Nanako skimmed through the paper to find the spot she was looking for and started reading again,”Oh! S-so, This room exists between realities and only a select few may come here. The ones who are granted access here have tre-tro…”She looked at the word closer, struggling to read it. Her eyebrows knitted together as she slowly tried sounding the word out. “T-tree- mun...dee-us powers hidden within them and must need awakening in order to...obb...tain...them…”She sighed in disappointment. You could practically feel her embarrassment in the weight of the air. He wasn’t mad though, he found it rather adorable actually. Though, not being able to help her kind of hurt him deep down.

Nanako continued, “There are many things that can be done here, but first, I..need you to sign your name, p-please..” She handed Yu the paper and let out a small huff. Everything that was on the paper was what Nanako just said. He didn’t quite understand most of it, but felt that she’d probably feel better if he signed the paper. He signed and handed it back to her. Nanako grinned a little, at the name.

“Yu Narukami...you have very pretty handwriting!” She beamed immediately. Yu couldn’t help a small blush dusting his cheeks. She was so cute! She quickly deflated though, as Yu did too at the sight of her. “Okay, now that you did that...uhm… there’s something that’s going to happen. I’m not allowed to tell you..but it’s very important!” She gave him her best determined face. Yu was a bit confused but nodded at her holding a thumbs up. She smiled wide and bounced in her seat, a wave of newfound excitement coating her voice, “Good! Me and my friends will be around to help you okay?”

Yu nodded, but then tilted his head. Nanako perked and then scratched her head, “Oh...I can’t summon us all at once...I’m...still new to this kind of thing…” She admitted. Yu waved a hand dismissively again as she continued, “They uh...they can do much more magic than I can…” The silver-haired boy was still widely confused, but it all melted away when Nanako’s tiny hands clasped onto his, handing him a small key. “Here, this is the key to the velvet room..”

She went into informative mode as she spoke, sounding really intelligent for her age, “When you have this key, you’ll be able to get here. Right now you can only get here by falling asleep with it, like, in your hand or something…” She looked guilty again. Yu reached out to pet the top of her head reassuringly. His mind didn’t have time to process much of what was being said, only that this little girl was upset and she needed reassurance. The ‘magic’ business completely flew over his head. As did the ‘tremendous power’ thing. Nanako looked at him with her bright eyes and smiled gently, blushing slightly, “W-well, hopefully I’ll make a door soon, you’re very nice…”

“Hm,” Yu hummed in appreciation and nodded towards her, saying that she was as well. Nanako rocked back and forth in her chair and smiled brightly, “Thank you!” She giggled. Yu pulled his hand away and held the key in his hands. Nanako swung her legs back and forth, feeling more excited now. “You’re gonna wake up now, I think you're on a train?”

Yu nodded. Nanako hopped out of her seat and walked over to him. She carefully raised her hand, the bows on her cuffs brushing against Yu’s hair. She used one of her fingers to touch the top of his head. “So, have a good day! Remember that things are about to happen and stay safe!” She beamed. Yu nodded and smiled back at her.

She blushed shyly as his vision started to fade to white, “Erm...p-please come again!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu hadn't seen his uncle in a long time, so for the most part, he was basically a stranger. Now that he had to live with the guy for a year, he was hoping they'd get along. On top of that, there was still that weird dream. The dream in which he received a key he ended up waking up with...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to: I've seen other people write long fanfictions and wanted to try doing it myself and somehow did it but watch it not actually be that long! Season 1 episode 1! This chapter was actually gonna be much MUCH longer with Yu going to school and stuff- but i got tired and rewrote it a bit. I'm not too good with writing things that make the little slidy bar on the side really small. I thought i could but....eh....
> 
> ALSO WHAT GUYS WHY ARE YOU GUYS LIKING THIS TYSM?? ⃛ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ )

"Welcome to Inaba! Please exit the train if this is your stop," The voice kept talking but Narukami couldn't quite remember what was said as he groaned awake. He drowsily rubbed his eyes and shook his head, feeling a little light-headed."Wh-what…" his voice was a bit weak, as if his vocal chords were all cut temporarily. It wasn't extremely painful- or anything, just a little scratchy. He sat up and went to grab his bags until he realized there was something in his right hand.

A silver key with a royal blue flower on it. 

___

"Yu! Over here!"

Narukami turned towards the voice as he stepped off the train. He slid the key in his pocket. He was confused, but always found himself to not panic when weird things happened to him. The voice that called for his attention was his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima. As said before, Yu hadn't seen his uncle in a very long time. It was actually surprising to him that Dojima recognized him. He was hesitant at first and kind of waited for the man to approach him first. This man was practically a stranger to him, so he was obviously suspicious.

Dojima was a tall slender guy with short unkempt brown hair and a bit of speckled facial hair. He had tired eyes but a genuine smile. The man wore a grey collared button down shirt with a red tie and was holding a black jacket at his side. Yeah, Yu didn’t recognize him at all.

“Hey, Yu right?” Dojima remarked. Yu nodded and gave him a polite smile. "Yes, that's me…" He replied quietly. His voice was still a bit wary from the dream. Dojima held his free hand out for Yu to take. "Good! I'm your uncle, Ryotaro Dojima," He reiterated. The silver-haired boy took his hand as Dojima kept on. "It's been a really long time since I’ve seen you. You were kind of small back then.”

Yu gave him a polite chuckle and shrugged slightly. He wasn’t much of a talker, whether his vocal chords were previously snipped in half and it hurt to talk or not. Dojima gave him a reassuring smile as he let go of the boy’s hand, “You must be tired from your trip, come on, I’ll take you to my house so you can rest up, okay?” Yu nodded as he followed his uncle to his car. He climbed in the front seat while Dojima took his bags and put them in the trunk.

The car ride was a bit quiet due to the two hardly knowing anything about each other. They’d make small talk from once and a while, but Yu could only give short and quaint answers. Eventually he admitted that his throat was sore. Dojima asked if he was sick, which he responded no as the man held a hand to his forehead. He then told him that they’d get to a gas station soon. Which, they did. Once they pulled into the gas pump, an attendant with silvery-grey hair approached the car, getting ready to fill up the tank.

Dojima turned towards Narukami, “You can go ahead and get a cough drop or something for your throat.” Yu nodded with a hum and a quiet, “Thanks" before exiting the car. The gas station attendant gave him an interested look as he passed by. In the small store, Yu ended up grabbing a mint and a few cough drops. He would grab water, but the mere thought of drinking something made his throat feel like pins and needles. He paid for his things and walked out, the gas station attendant getting his attention this time.

“Are you in highschool?” The attendant asked in a casual tone. Yu tilted his head in confusion but then nodded. The attendant turned to look out at the streets, “Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?”

“Hm? Oh, a little bit,” His voice was a bit scratchy now.  
The attendant chuckled, “There’s so little to do out here, I’m sure you’ll get bored fast,” They then shrugged, “You’ll either be hanging out with friends or doing part-time jobs.” Yu felt his face deflate a little at the mention of the word ‘friends’ but didn’t interrupt.. “Speaking of which…”

“We’re actually looking for part-time help right now, What do ya say?”

Yu politely shook his head, “Thank you but..” He cleared his throat, “I might need to settle down..first.” His voice was shaky, but the attendant gave him a look of understanding. “Give it some thought why don’t you, we don't mind if you’re a student,” They reassured. Yu nodded as the attendant held their hand out for him to shake. He smiled slightly and took it. Something felt off, though. This gas station attendant felt...off. He didn’t question it, as they left to get back to work and Yu hopped in the passenger seat of the car. He hadn’t noticed Dojima’s absence until he came back to the car and sat in the driver’s seat.

“Sorry, had to take a smoke,” The man shrugged. Yu went to wave a hand dismissively until he felt a sharp pain in his head. He only winced and tried pinching his temples. Dojima raised a brow as his head still pounded hard, “You okay?”

Yu only rubbed his forehead, “Yeah, I-it’s probably nothing.”

~~~

Once they reach the Dojima residence, Yu stood stiff in the living room, even though Dojima said to make himself at home. The problem was, one, Dojima had to leave right after he dropped Yu off at the house. He said it was because he got a call earlier from his job and he needed to take care of business. It felt all too foreign for Narukami but the difference here is at least Dojima gave him a kind smile before leaving. Two, Yu was a bit uneasy with being in somebody’s house like this, he didn’t want to mess anything up or rummage around without his uncle’s permission. Though, messing thing’s up wouldn’t be a problem because, three-

The house was a complete and utter mess.

Yu always lived by himself for the most part, so he was really good at housekeeping. So the sight of the living room being littered with papers and bottles, the kitchen being scattered with dishes and leftovers and finally, the tv was left on, specifically playing the news. Surprisingly, the house didn’t leave a stench and instead was scented with lavender throughout each room.

Yu still cringed at the mess. He tried his best not to crumple any papers under his feet and made his way to the couch. He didn’t sit down, due to the empty bottles and leftover paper plates that littered it, but he did start picking things up. Yes, his throat was still scratchy and his head was pounding, but there was no way he was going to let this mess just sit here. 

He pulled out a trash bag and started picking up the trash. After a while it came to his attention that the papers were actually paperwork. What for? He wasn’t quite sure, but he didn’t want to snoop around in his uncle’s stuff, regardless if it was sloppily thrown all over the place. He stacked them in no particular order and put them on the small table that sat in front of him. He went to get up but ended up forgetting that there were still things on the floor that he hadn’t cleaned yet. He ended up stepping on a frame and cracking the glass. He didn’t get cut, luckily, but he still felt guilty for breaking something of Dojima’s. He made a mental note to get a new picture frame for him.

He picked the picture up out of the frame and dusted the glass off, careful to not cut his fingers. It seemed to be a picture of his uncle from a few years ago, giving a humble smile alongside three other people, a pretty woman, a guy with a dopey tie, and a young girl. Oddly enough, this girl looked much like the one from his dream. Nanako, was it? She had short brown pigtails this time and a light pink summer dress on. 

Though, her smile, that was definitely something he remembered from his dream.

His mind started to wander a little but he eventually brushed it off, it was probably just a weird coincidence. He stepped over the glass to place the picture on another table which was in the kitchen. He then swept the glass up, placing it in the trash. Yu ended up doing the dishes as well and before he knew it, the sky went dark.

“Hm, well the house looks much better now…” He spoke to himself, admiring his handiwork. The living room was in much better shape with the papers stacked and all the trash picked up. The kitchen looked in much better shape too, with food being put away and the dishes being done, though his hands were a bit clammy now. He started to wonder since when was the last time Dojima cleaned up… He didn’t know him that well, but the house being wrecked like that seemed a little unlike him. Dojima didn’t seem like a slob..

Yu made his way up the stairs and was pleasantly surprised with how clean the guest room is. It was a visible contrast than what ever happened downstairs. The room was carefully organized with a shelf to the right of the door, a couch sat in front of a window with a small table in front of it, a desk in the corner and a futon adjacent to it.

He sighed to himself and carefully unwrapped a cough drop and put it in his mouth. It had a weird flavor, but that wasn’t the point of it, he sat down on the futon, waiting for the cough drop to work it’s magic. He was much more tired than he remembered and fell asleep as soon as his eyes drooped.

What he didn’t expect was to be back in a familiar royal blue limousine. Apparently, he did end up sleeping with the key on accident. He drowsily looked around and wiped his eyes. There wasn’t anybody else there, only Yu and the loneliness creeping up on him. He could have sworn he heard music playing last time, but now he could only hear his slow breathing. He sat back in his seat as a small voice echoed through the room. “H-hello? Y-Yu-san?” Nanako’s feeble voice pierced through the silence. Yu looked around, but couldn’t see her. He couldn’t stand to try and look behind him, but he had a feeling she wasn’t in the walls. He nodded and tilted his head, trying to stay calm.

Nanako whispered something from under her breath and gave a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry, You were supposed to be somewhere else…” She sounded frustrated and disappointed in herself, not being able to bring Yu to the right place. Then again, Yu did have the key with him. Could that have contributed? Either way, where was Yu ‘supposed’ to be? Actually, he never got to ask, but what was going on here anyway? All of his questions refused to come out as him opening his mouth was futile. Even if he tried, he was sure all that would come out are weak gasps. Just when he took the cough drop…

He carefully reached in his pocket and grabbed the key and held it up as if Nanako could see him. Apparently she could, and she gasped. “Oh! The key!” She seemed happy, “It really works!! Wait…”She deflated a little until she was pouting, “You weren’t supposed to use the key right now!!”

Yu shook his head in confusion. She said he could come again, though she didn’t specify when… Was he supposed to ask first when entering the velvet room? Nanako seemed to have the same thoughts as he heard her huff. He put his hand down with the key in his hand as Nanako spoke up again. “Well, it’s okay, I’m sorry- We’ll get you to the right place okay Y-Yu-san?”

Narukami nodded but tilted his head in confusion. Nanako wasn’t in front of him, but could feel his confusion lingering in the air. Nanako let out a small ‘Oh’ sound and he heard her snap. “It’s a surprise!” She beamed, but then got very concerned, “O-oh! Be careful! Okay! If you get hurt too much you’ll come back here!”

Yu nodded, but was still confused. He didn’t have much time to think about it though, as Nanako mumbled to someone, a young masculine sounding voice as Yu was enveloped in a white light, just like last time.

“Good Luck Yu-san!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Yu thinks about it, What IS going on? What is the velvet room? What did he get himself into now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes. another chapter- I'm trying my best...
> 
> ALSO YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT I JUST- IT MAKES MY HEART SWELL KNOWING PEOPLE LIKE MY STUFF AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

As Nanako’s voice faded away, Yu found himself feeling a soft breeze on his face. He was on alert, realizing he wasn't in either the Velvet Room or at the Dojima Residence. He opened his eyes to a white cloud. The fog was too thick for him to see much of anything except his feet and the road beneath him. He had a bit of trouble moving, fearing that if he stepped forth he might fall or something.

Unlike before in the Velvet room, he felt a wave of panic wash over him and his breath hitched. He swallowed as the sensation felt like acid down his throat. It stung, but it wasn't worse than his pulse speeding up with loud thumps in his ears. He was never really a panic type of person, but being completely alone in a place where's blind and confused? Yeah, he was a bit on edge.

He heard voices in his head, sounding just as panicked as he was. "Yu-san! Yu-san are you okay?!" Nanako was pleading and terrified, which wasn't helping in the slightest. He gritted his teeth and nodded. Nanako sighed out of relief. Yu could practically see her face relax as she spoke, "Okay, p-please don't panic…" Yu swallowed and held a thumbs up, trying to stay calm for the adorable girl that was speaking to him from…

Wait...where _is_ Nanako…?

Yu looked around but couldn’t see anything through the thick fog. Was she still on the announcer in the Velvet Room. If so, how was she talking to him? There's an announcement room in the Velvet Room? How does that work? _What even is the Velvet Room?_ And how did he get--

"FOCUS!"

A loud harsh yell cut through his line of questioning. It wasn't Nanako, it was a much different voice. This voice sounded a bit soft, whispery. Not as in it was gentle, no, it sounded kind of snake-y. To add, it was also an obvious male voice. Who was that?

"Why did you yell? He'll just panic more!" Another male voice, though this one sounded like the other voice he heard Nanako talk to before while in the Velvet Room. Granted, he only heard mumbles, so he wasn't sure, but there was a resemblance.

"Well he's not listening to Nanako, we had to get his attention somehow!" The snake-ish voice snapped.

"How would you feel if you were brought to an unknown place against your will with weird voices in your head yelling at you?!"

"I DON'T SEE YOU DOING ANYTHING!!"

"NO!" Nanako's voice brought the argument to a close. Both voices went quiet and the young girl huffed, "Bad time!!" Yu could imagine her puffing her cheeks in a pout as she scolded the other two guys. It was adorable, but hard to imagine since he didn't know the other two voices. Still adorable.

"Yu-san! Please calm down."

The silver-haired boy did as he was told and closed his eyes. "It's okay, you aren't going to get hurt…"

"...badly," The snake tacked on. Yu flinched and the other male voice clicked his tongue, "Shut up!" 

"No!" Nanako repeated before the argument could go on. The two voices went quiet again, "Shh!" It was quiet for a moment until Nanako spoke again, "Please walk." Yu scratched his arm and stepped forward once before awaiting his next command. "Keep going, don't worry! You aren't going to fall, this isn't a trap."

He nodded and kept walking. Eventually, he was asked to start running to keep this from taking too long, according to the snake. The familiar voice grumbled and Nanako decided to just keep giving Yu directions. "You're almost there…"

'Where…' He asked in his head. Yu didn't have much time as he stopped in his tracks at the sight of a black figure in front of him. The lack of explanation from Nanako was starting to alarm him a little.. He began to hear a voice, a different voice that he couldn’t quite describe. Yu assumed it was the figure in front of him talking, yet he couldn’t see their face, so he was unsure.

“ _Do you seek the truth?”_

“Hm?” He hummed slightly, trying to stay as calm as possible. The voice spoke again.

_“If it’s the truth you desire, step forward and pursue me.”_

_The truth._ Truth about what? Inaba? This world? Himself? That was an extremely broad statement and Yu couldn’t find a reason to step forth for any of them. Maybe the world one, but other than that, It took the three voices from before, talking over each other to persuade him. The boy just stood there as the voices from beyond this realm started to panic in his ears.

“Go on! Go on!” The young masculine voice pleaded.

“Hurry up! Step forward!” The snake-y voice commanded, sounding more aggressive than encouraging.

“Yu-San! This is your time!” Nanako cheered. Yu could hear her smile in her voice. This eventually made him step forward. Suddenly the fog dissipated quite a bit. The figure was revealed to be a black silhouette, like a shadow of something that wasn’t there. The figure turned around, but Yu couldn’t really tell, the figure didn’t have a face at all.

The figure chuckled, “ _So you are the one pursuing me?”_ Yu shifted his weight between his feet nervously. Why did he agree to this again? He could die here, yet he was still standing his ground, albeit nervously, but it was a lot more bravery than he’s ever shown in his life. Maybe this was all some weird nightmare? It was a very real feeling nightmare… The cold chill of the fog around him definitely didn’t feel like a dream. Or maybe it was the air conditioning in Dojima-san’s guest room? 

“STAY ON TRACK!” The snake-like voice hissed.

Yu snapped back to...whatever this was and shook his head. He wasn’t sure when he brandished a katana, but he wasn’t complaining. Not that he could. But he wouldn’t.

“ _Hmhmhmm, Try all you like_ ,” the figure in front of him laughed once more, in a much more mocking tone. Due to the sword, and the wording of the silhouettes sentencing, he assumed they had to fight. So he did. Yu swung at the enemy with as much force he could muster. He assumed he hit because of what the silhouette said next.

“ _Hm, it seems you can see a little, despite the fog…_ ”

Really? If anything he could hardly see at all. Were others completely blind when it came to the fog? If so, then what made Yu of all people so special? He raised a brow, but something inside of him told him to attack again, so he did. Maybe his parents forcing him to take fencing all those years ago were actually useful here. I mean, he wasn’t fencing here, but he knew his weapon well.

The silhouette seemed unfazed, “ _I see, indeed, that is very interesting information.”_

He attacked again, but to no avail. It wasn’t that he wasn’t hitting them, no, it was that the hits weren’t _nearly_ enough. And he was starting to feel his legs wobble. He was putting too much force on attacking and he wasn’t exactly in the right state to be fighting. He just woke up and all…

“ _But, you will not catch me so easily…_ ” The voice spoke again as he slashed at the shadowy-like creature. He was starting to feel a bit weak and used his katana to stand. The voice laughed and gazed down at Yu, at least, he thinks they did. “ _If what you seek is the ‘Truth,’ then your search will be even harder.”_

Of course, the fog got thicker, much thicker. He was starting to feel a little dizzy. At this point he figured it was because of something in the fog, because he never felt this weak before. Ever. His legs moved to try running forward and swinging his sword again at the figure, who was no longer there. He missed, and due to how much force he used in his arms, he almost fell forward, but caught himself before he could.

“ _Everyone sees what they want to. And the fog only deepens.”_

What are they talking about? ‘Everyone sees what they want to see?’ Sure, I guess, but what did that have to do with anything? He attacked again, trying to land a hit but decided to go ease his limbs. If he tried attacking too hard, he’d fall, and leave himself vulnerable. It missed, still, but it was worth a try anyway. The world started to fade off to a bright white. Yu held his forearm over his eyes as the voice was now in his head, kind of like what Nanako and (her friends? Brothers? family?) the others were doing before. 

“ **_Will we meet again…? At a place other than here?”_ **

A ringing started to get louder as his knees buckled. He was sent collapsing to the ground and held his sword, trying to push himself up with it, but to no avail. The voice got more and more distant as they spoke. 

“ **_Hm..hm I look forward to it.”_ **

Before he knew it, he was lying on the ground, gasping for air as he lost consciousness. Guess there was something in the fog…

_____

Oddly, Yu woke up feeling really refreshed. Maybe it was just some weird dream or something, because he’d figure he’d feel kind of worn out. He didn’t quite remember everything, but decided to brush it off. At least until he fell asleep again tonight. He took a shower and got dressed for school. Yu went downstairs to find an empty, untouched living area and kitchen. Did Dojima-San come home last night? It’s fine, he was used to this. No offense to Dojima-san but, if things weren’t going to be much different, he could’ve stayed home.

It’s alright though, he didn’t have much back in Tokyo anyway. He opened the fridge and viewed the contents inside. There wasn’t much, which probably meant Dojima-san ate out a lot. Nothing wrong with that, but there was absolutely _nothing_ in the fridge. All that was there was sauces and drinks. Not even eggs! He sighed to himself and closed the fridge. He could have toast instead, it was fine.

Yu had two pieces of toast and carefully put strawberry jelly on them before heading to Yasogami High.

The walk to the high school hadn’t been too long, and it seemed a lot of friends were meeting up while on their way to the school Yu stared straight ahead, careful not to make eye-contact. He wasn’t anti-social or anything, but he was new, and wanted to make a proper introduction first. Besides, he wasn’t going to be here long, what was the point of making friends anyway?

He heard a few giggles from behind him and he tried to tune them out. Whether the giggles were aimed at him or not, he didn’t want to know. Instead, he focused on the building that was now coming into view. Yasogami High. There were different groups of friends standing outside, none of them he recognized. They were all blissfully chatting away at whatever seemed to be the new talk of the town with such bubbling energy in their voices. Nothing wrong with that, but Yu immediately felt out of place. 

Though, before any thoughts could come to mind, he felt a hard shove against his back and a light, “Ouchie!” Yu stumbled forward from the impact and turned around to see his aggressor. He shifted his body to fully face the figure and get a good look at them. 

In front of him was a small boy with golden hair that was swerved up towards the side.. Well, he wasn’t _terribly_ small, but about a foot shorter than Yu. His skin was pale and his cheeks were rosy, when he opened his eyes they shone a bright blue that almost looked as if they reflected the sky. Not to mention, it almost looked like his eyes took up half his face, almost girl-like. He was also wearing a Yasogami High Uniform too, except he had a rose pinned to his chest and a ruffled looking dress shirt under his jacket.

The smaller boy held a hand to his forehead and groaned, “I’m sorry! Bear-y sorry! I didn’t see you there…” The boy spoke in an unusually cheerful voice. Yu waved his hands in front of his chest dismissively, ignoring the bear-pun because it wasn’t his focus at the moment. “Ah, It’s alright. Just be more careful,” He stated, neutrally enough. The smaller boy looked up at him with curiosity. He looked Yu up and down twice before his face went from beaming, to flushed to a guilty look of sorts.

Then utter _panic_ as the boy got on his knees and bowed at him repeatedly.

“Uwaaah! I’m so sorry! I've made a fool out of myself already Ahhhh! How em’bear’assing!” The boy spazzed, “ I bear-ly believe I’ve already humiliated myself to someone I’ve never seen beforeeee!!” Yu stood there in shock for a few moments before snapping back to reality. People kept giving the two weird stares and chuckles, though this time, he was almost positive it was in reaction to them. Narukami felt his shoulders stiffen under all the attention but tried reassuring the stranger anyway.

“H-hey now, I said it was alright. Please don’t bow at me…” He struggled to keep up his stoic demeanor. 

“B-b-b-but you just looked so cool! I was afraid of making another enemy! Especially since you don’t know me!!”

“That last part should be a reason as to why you have no reason to be afraid…”

“But you meeting me this way is already bad!”

“Please calm down…”

The exchange went on for a little longer until the small boy realized how late it was getting and that he ‘needn’t be late for class’ so he sprinted off. Yu just stood there in confusion for a second longer before walking quickly to his destination.

_‘Alright…’_

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all that, it's time for something normal. School! Maybe after that he'd get answers...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o k it's still surreal going to the souyo tag and seeing my own work there, ngl. but like why do you guys like my stuff? like thank you!! A LOT! but i'm struggling ;; this is my first p4 fic so if they're ooc sometimes that's why... I probably should've said that in the beginning of this fic. yeah. anyway enjoy!

“...And he’s just as much of a loser here as he was there, So you girls better not be getting any ideas about hitting on him!” 

Yu stood to the side awkwardly as his homeroom teacher, Mr. Morooka, rambled on about how much of a piece of garbage he was. He wasn’t sure if he should speak up or not and instead just stood there, looking towards the ground, his hair falling over his eyes. 

“Tell em’ your name, kid, and make it quick.”

Yu cleared his throat but no words came out and his lips formed into a thin line. After a second, he opened his mouth, but before anything could be said, Mr. Morooka spoke up first. “What. Are you deaf?” The nervous boy turned towards him and shook his head politely, “N-no, I can hear very well-”

“Then hurry up and say something! Now knowing you aren’t mute either!” The teacher got in his face and spat. Yu could feel the sweat drip down his face as he stood there helplessly. The teacher then went on after the silver-haired boy failed to follow his orders. “That’s IT! You’re officially on my little shit list!” He kept going but Yu was tuning out at this point, more focused on being yelled at for basically doing nothing. The boy just nervously nodded as his teacher scolded him until a new voice interrupted them.

“Excuse me? There’s an empty seat next to me. New guy could sit here,” A feminine voice pierced through the conversation. Yu’s attention was shifted to a girl with chestnut hair in a short bob and eyes to match her hair. She wore a green jacket with yellow stripes that decorated it. She also had her uniform skirt on too. The girl was motioning towards the empty desk next to her. There was also a noticeably empty desk behind the desk next to her. Noticeable, because it seemed reserved by a set of orange headphones for some reason. Mr. Morooka grumbled and pointed towards the desk. 

“What’re you waiting for? GO SIDDOWN’!” He yelled, making Yu flinch slightly. He scurried towards the seat and sat down. He swallowed hard as his teacher began a lecture on who knows what, he was just relieved to finally be sitting down. The girl beside him poked his elbow with the eraser end of her pencil. Yu looked over at her and she tried keeping eye contact with Mr. Morooka as she spoke. “Don’t worry about it- you get used to it after a while,” She snickered quietly, “We call him ‘King Moron’-” She was cut off by Mr. Morooka, who called the two of them out.

The rest of the class was just an insult session.

___

“My name’s Chie Satonaka, and this is my best friend Yukiko,” The girl introduced herself as another girl with long, silky black hair and a red cardigan walked up behind her. She had beautiful grey eyes and thin lips. “Sorry to bother you, My name is Yukiko Amagi,” She bowed towards him as Chie gawked, “Yukiko! Don’t apologize!” Yu stood up and slightly bowed at the two girls, “Nice to meet you two.”

Chie leaned against her desk as she kept talking, “So, what brings you out here?”

“Ah… My parents are overseas...that’s all,” Yu responded quietly. Yukiko stood politely beside her best friend and clasped her hands, “Oh, where did they go?”

Yu shrugged, which wasn’t exactly true, but he wasn’t expecting people to talk to him this soon. It was alright, just a little jarring. The two girls frowned, seemingly concerned. Chie was the first to speak up, “They didn’t tell you? Wow…” He grimaced slightly at her remark. Even though that wasn’t the case, it wasn’t like that didn’t happen sometimes...but, different subject. Different subject.

Either the girl in green caught on to his discomfort, or didn’t care, but at least she moved on quickly. “Hey, do you guys know of the Midnight Channel?” She asked, perking up immediately. Yukiko gave her a confused look and tilted her head. “What’s that?” Yu also shook his head in confusion. Chie stood straight up as she explained, “There’s a rumor going around about a tv program called the Midnight Channel, that only shows up at midnight and whoever appears on the screen is your soulmate!” She exclaimed. Yu scratched his cheek and he could hear his mother’s voice in the back of his mind, turning her nose up at how ‘absurd’ it is that a girl of her age could still believe in such a thing. Yukiko smiled slightly, “You think it’s true?”

“Course’ it is! But only on a rainy day!”

“Right,” Yu remarked to himself, however it was out loud, “Maybe next time we should check it out.” Yukiko nodded and Chie clenched her fist in excitement.

“Alright! Then it’s settled! Next time it rains, let's stay up until midnight and check the tv!”

“Mhm.”

Yu nodded as well. He ended up exchanging numbers with the two girls and went on his way back to the Dojima residence. He couldn’t help the curious eyes that glanced at the desk behind him with the headphones on them as he walked out. That was an...alright first day. Not too bad, not too good either. Just alright. Once he got home and stepped inside, He noticed the lack of other shoes. Dojima still hadn’t come home? Christ.. Is he okay? It was still kind of early, but he wasn’t home last night either. After debating with himself, He decided that he should probably cook dinner for himself and (hopefully) Dojima.

He didn’t end up making anything but toast. Not like there was anything else to make. Yu seemed to just nibble on his toast as he flipped through the channels on the TV in the living room. The boy was sitting on a cushion in front of the small table as he watched tv. He wasn’t sure what he was watching until he dozed off, his head lying against the small table. Yu suddenly woke up and went upstairs. He dug around in a small drawer until he retrieved the key. He then laid down on his futon and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he left the tv on downstairs and the guest room door open. Alas, he felt unsatisfied with sleeping like that, and quickly ran downstairs to shut the tv off and close the door, also turning off the lights.

He didn’t bother to change clothes, he was just eager for answers.

What was that place? What was that figure going on about, “the truth?” Why did these things only start happening now? What is the Velvet room, and why is he allowed in there? No offense to Nanako, but she didn’t exactly explain who she was or what the Velvet room _ actually is _ . She is only a child. At least, she appeared to be, so he didn’t blame her. All of the sudden, he was asleep. Usually, all of these questions racing through his head would keep him up, not...help him sleep. Either way, his questions could be answered now.

Yu  _ thought  _ he’d get answers.

When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but notice the lack of a specific little girl with silver pigtails. Instead, he immediately caught a glimpse of a guy with a book open and laying over his face and his head leaned back. He was sitting off to the right of Yu, opposite of the shelf with glasses. The figure was wearing Velvet room attire that was both similar to Nanako’s and different. He had a royal blue jacket with 4 circles on it with smaller circles inside. The idle portion of the outfit was designed with a lighter blue. The boy also had a black collar with black gloved hands, black slacks. There was also a small top hat on the table.

Yu reached over and tapped the figure on the shoulder. No answer. He tapped again, only a twitch, but no outright answer either. Yu frowned a bit before carefully picking the book off the stranger’s face. He closed it and placed it on the table before looking back at the sleeping figure. 

It was revealed that he had a type of brown to orange hair. He couldn’t tell too much under the blue lighting. Their eyes were closed and their lips were parted slightly to breathe. It was kind of a pleasant sight, and Yu almost didn’t want to disturb them...but.

Forgetting his lack of speech in the velvet room, Yu opened his mouth to say something, only for the stranger to twitch awake and strain to cover their ears. This notion then turned to a screaming in pain. Yu closed his mouth in confusion and alarm as the stranger winced, their golden eyes popping open, “O-ow!” 

Yu opened his mouth to say sorry, only for the stranger to stumble towards him and cover his mouth. “S-stop! That hurts! And it’ll hurt you when you wake up!” 

“It will?” But nothing came out, only the other boy covering his ears and gritting his teeth.

“Wh-what did I JUST say?!” The boy spat. Yu gave him an apologetic look. The other boy seemed to back up now, feeling confident in Yu’s ability to follow his directions. The silver haired boy was actually going to try now, feeling bad for hurting the boy. 

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way…”The boy sat down and then picked up the book that was once on his face before and flipped through it. “What’re you doing here? You can’t keep coming by here so often, y'know?” Yu tried to open his mouth but sufficed for shaking his head in confusion instead. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah man, I’m not like Nanako, I can’t read your thoughts…” The boy shrugged as he stopped on a page. He handed the open book to Yu as well as a pen that was sitting on the small table in front of them. The page that the boy opened up on was blank on both sides. “Here, write your name down. No offense but I can’t really remember it at the top of my head right now,” He chuckled, but it faded into a guilty smile. Yu shook his head and tried waving his hands in reassurance. Of course, the boy was majorly confused, so instead, Yu signed his name in the top right of one of the pages. He then wrote after, “It’s okay, We’ve never formally met, so i’d understand.”

The boy took the book back as Yu finished writing. He read over what was written and then ripped the pages out. “Nice to meet you, Narukami! You have really nice handwriting, by the way,” He skimmed over the small amount of what Yu wrote. Flattered, the other boy bowed his head in appreciation. The silent boy tried to motion with his hands to ask what the stranger’s name was. Said stranger just rose a hand to his chin in confusion, and then snapped.

“Agh! Shoot, I forgot to mention my name- Sorry about that bro!” The resident simply smiled sheepishly as he kept talking.

“My name’s Yosuke Hanamura,” He held his hand out for Yu to shake. His gloved hand felt weirdly cold, but Yu didn’t seem to mind. Yosuke pulled back before opening the book again and pulling more pages out. All of them were blank. He put them in front of Yu as well as the same pen from before. 

“Just in case you have something to say,” He held a thumbs up. It was quiet for a while and the only thing that could be heard in the velvet room was the scribbling of the pen against the piece of paper. Yu then handed the written piece to Yosuke. It read, “How are you doing?” The golden eyed boy raised a brow and gave Yu a confused look, “That’s….it?” Yu gave one nod of approval.

Yosuke shot him a weird look, “You should be asking more questions than that...last night you were asking a bunch of questions…”

He was, but he’s got to be polite first. Yu nodded and motioned towards the paper, wanting Yosuke to answer his question first. After a few seconds, Yosuke sighed and then shrugged, “I’m okay, how are you?” Yu nodded and held a thumbs up. He then clasped his hands together and bowed slightly towards the boy as a sign of thanks. This guy wasn’t Nanako, but he seemed pretty nice.

“Do you have any other questions?” Yosuke asked as he handed Yu the book again, along with the pen. Yu took the book and began to write a list of questions. It was in his blood to be as polite as humanly possible, so he wrote at the top, “If you don't want to answer all of these, that’s alright.” He then moved down slightly to write the leu of questions he had in his head.

“Where did you come from?”

“Where’s Nanako?”

“Who was the third voice from Last night?”

“What is the Velvet room?”

At that moment, those were all of the questions he could think of. Yu handed the book back to Yosuke, who had apparently watched him write with anticipation. The resident took the book and looked at the page. He gave a humble smile at the first line Yu wrote. “Nah, I’ll try!” He answered with a bit of enthusiasm. He began to read off the questions.

“Where I came from…” His voice suddenly got somber and his expression didn’t match. It was apparent that he was trying to keep up a cheery facade, but that question triggered something. Yu shook his head and waved a hand dismissively as soon as he sensed the other boy’s discomfort. Yosuke fiddled with his fingers.

“No it’s okay, uh...before I came here...it was...bright?” Yosuke explained, but he sounded extremely confused. Yu gave him a weird look and shrugged. That hardly seemed like an answer, but he’ll take it. 

“Nanako is still here, she’s just in another room. It’s to visit ‘long nose’ and this really cute girl…” Yosuke gushed by the end of the sentence and Yu just stared at him. He didn’t really know what to say, so he tilted his head in confusion, more concerned on why Nanako was there as opposed to who with. Yosuke didn’t understand though, “Oh! Long nose is Nanako’s teacher. So is the girl. Her name is Margaret, and long nose is named Igor.” Yu nodded at the explanation. 

“The third voice? uh...Oh! Oh,” Yosuke reacted, scrunching up his nose, “ _ You’ll meet him later, he also lives here. His name is Tohru Adachi.”  _ Yu snickered, finding his new expression amusing. He abruptly stopped when Yosuke gave him a confused look. “What’s so funny?” He raised a brow. Yu shook his head, and motioned for him to continue. The boy brushed it off and moved onto the next question.

“Hm..” Yosuke hummed, his eyes narrowing. He looked at the writing for a few minutes, golden eyes scanning the question over and over. Yu could practically see the cogwheels turning in his head. He tapped Yosuke on the shoulder and tilted his head in an attempt to ask if he was okay. Yosuke ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Sorry, Narukami, I got nothin’...I know I was told this but it isn’t coming to me…”

Yu shook his head and took the book back, writing something small on the paper, “It’s alright. Thank you.” He handed the book back to the boy. Yosuke groaned and tilted his head, “Yeah, but that was important… “ Yu gave him a reassuring smile, as if to repeat his previous notion. Yosuke’s mouth formed into a thin line. The attendant looked like he had something to say, but his lips never moved. Instead, he moved on. 

“Any more questions?”

Yu nodded as he wrote a few more down. He ended up learning a bit that night. Yosuke wasn’t the best at explaining things, but Yu was able to follow along as much as possible. All he could really explain was that this room was special and only he could get here. Yosuke will be here sometimes, and other times it will be Nanako and ‘Dachi?’ Was it? The boy also had this special power where if Yu brought him cards, with these entities called personas on them, he could fuse them into a better one.

That part was confusing, but Yosuke said he’d understand later. After some time, Yu yawned loudly, though no noise came out of his mouth. Yosuke still winced and stood up out of his seat. “Seems like you’ll be waking up soon,” He remarked. Yu rubbed his eyes and stood up as well. He nodded as Yosuke scratched his head, “Unfortunately, you have school- but y’know, you’ll get through it.” He chuckled. Yosuke held out his gloved hand for Yu to shake. Sleepily, he took it and Yosuke seemed to have a hesitant grip.

“Well, see ya later.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next series of days seemed to be leading up to something. Yu was meeting more people, an incident may or may have not occurred, and there was new Velvet room attendant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h i. I'm alive. uh. Writing this felt a little easier and a part of me wanted to keep going ngl. I think it's because I spread this chapter out a bit...As you can tell...because it's been like 2 months... but yknow.
> 
> HAPPY 2021 YALL AND MERRY LATE CHRISTMASSS

The next few days were a little weird. The day after the velvet room visit, there was an incident. Nobody was informed on the situation at school, but Chie and Yukiko had asked if he could walk them home just in case. On the way there, he caught sight of Dojima, which was surprising. He rarely saw his uncle and he seemed to be working on a crime scene or something. Yu figured it wouldn’t be good to bother him, but Dojima had the opposite idea. The detective speed walked over to him, Chie, and Yukiko.

“Yu? What’re you doing here? You aren’t allowed to be in this area,” He sounded stern and looked towards the two girls. Chie swallowed hard and then forced a smile, stepping in front of Yukiko as protection of some sort. “What’s going on? Narukami, you know this guy?”

“I...He’s my uncle,” Yu nodded and then turned towards said uncle, “I was just heading towards the house...is everything okay?” Dojima’s expression immediately softened. He sighed of relief and continued, “You weren’t supposed to come this way…”

“Oh, sorry…”

“It’s alright, don’t worry. However, you kids should hurry home now,” Dojima ordered. Yu just nodded and grabbed Chie’s wrist, who grabbed Yukiko’s, and started to pull them away. As they walked down the street, away from the crime scene. Yu constantly looked back to see his uncle in a slightly panicked state. Dojima seemed stressed, really stressed, as other cops began to talk to him. The other cops looked kind of scary.

“I hope everything’s okay…” Yukiko mumbled, grabbing Yu’s attention again. 

“Me too.”

The next day, on his way back from school, he spotted a bear mascot handing out balloons to kids in front of a big building in the shopping district. The bear seemed to be in front of a grocery store of some kind. Said grocery store had a huge sign in big red letters that read, “Junes!” with a star at the end. It was a huge contrast to the quaint and humble shopping district. Yu shrugged and walked inside the store, he needed some groceries anyway.

As he walked down the aisles, he picked a few things he might need to cook later on. As he was coming out of the seafood section, Yu only saw a flash of red, blue and white as he felt an impact near his lower torso that sent him reeling onto the floor. He landed on his backside with a small ‘Oof!’ and he dropped all the groceries in the basket. He looked up towards his offender.

It was the bear mascot, who was now lying on its back and trying to get itself up.

“Arghhh!! Help, please! Grrr!” It growled. Yu stood up and picked the bear up, placing it back on its feet. The bear seemed a little dizzy as it shook its head, “Geez! I’m so sorry! Did I run into y- UWAH!” The bear cut itself off and turned around covering its face. “Please don’t hurt me! I’m so bear-y sorry!”

“Bear-y…?” Yu asked but then shook it away, tapping the bear's shoulder, “It’s alright, are you okay?” The bear looked back at him with a sad look (somehow). “Awh….Thank you...I’m okay...but are you okay?” Yu gave a small smile and nodded. The bear then smiled widely back, “Good! Again...bear-y sorry…”

Yu tilted his head. Not only did the bear’s voice sound familiar, there were also bear puns? Weird… His thoughts were cut off by another presence behind the bear. “Teddie, there’s clean up on aisle-” A female voice stopped when she spotted Yu. The girl looked him up and down and then gave him a tired smile. She then turned towards the bear, “Oh? Were you finally able to make a real friend?”

The bear grimaced slightly, “That’s not funny Senpai..” The girl petted the top of the bear’s head, “I’m joking I’m joking.” The girl then turned her attention to Yu. “You go to Yasogami?” She asked, tilting her head. Yu nodded as she kept on, “My name’s Saki Konishi, I’m a third-year.” The bear then nodded along with her, “And I’m Teddie!” He seemed to try and keep quiet from exposing his identity any further. Yu raised a brow, but he didn’t want to pry. Saki put a hand on her hip and motioned towards Yu.

“What’s your name?” She asked. Yu swallowed and then nodded.

“Yu Narukami, second-year,” He kept it really short, but was very welcoming. Saki nodded and then smiled again, “Ooh! I’m your senpai? Nice!” She cooed at him. Yu scratched his head and nodded, “I guess so.” Saki then looked towards Teddie and pushed him forward, not too forcefully, “Well, I’ll leave you guys to it, I’m glad Ted was able to find someone other than me to talk to. Be gentle with him, will ya? He’s clingy and sensitive.”

Her dirty blonde curls bobbed slightly as she walked away, apparently going to take care of the clean up herself to give Teddie more time with his new friend. The bear frowned ever so slightly, “I’m not!” He growled. Teddie turned back towards Yu, pouting. “Sh-she’s joking! I’m not...I’m not clingy…” He tapped his index…(fingers? Paws?) together nervously. The silver-haired teen only chuckled a little.

“Either way, I don’t mind. It’s nice meeting you,” He smiled softly. Teddie blushed a little and beamed, “It was bear-y nice to meet you too!!” He seemed to forget all about Saki’s words, proving her point by hugging Yu’s legs. Yu stumbled back at the force but weakly smiled while petting the top of the bear’s head. He seemed easily attached to people. The bear let go of his legs and looked up at him innocently. It almost reminded him of Nanako, from the velvet room.

Speaking of which, He ended up paying a visit to the blue area that very night. Instead of being greeted by a little girl with silvery hair and a bright smile or even the teenager with bright hair and golden eyes, he was greeted with a noticeably older guy. Not too old, but he didn’t look like he was in highschool. At the least, he was in college.

The man had the same attire as Yosuke, but he kept his small tophat off his head. His dark hair was wild, not like Yosuke’s but looked as if he got a haircut by a child, sticking up in all the wrong places. He also looked down with his arms crossed over his chest. His structure was a bit on the skinnier side, but he had broad shoulders.

The man also had golden eyes, just like the other two, but he looked kind of scary. It made Yu’s hair on the back of his neck stand. The man huffed and then looked towards Yu. He looked tired and scratched his head. He then forced a smile and raised a hand as if to wave. “Didn’t see you there,” He sounded airy and reasonably calm. Yu began to sweat nervously, this man just seemed uneasy.

“How’re you?” The man asked.

Yu went to speak but closed his mouth, but then opened it again. Were the rules the same? If he talked, would it hurt this man? He hesitated as the man weakly laughed, “Go ahead, try it.” Yu frowned, that sounded like he was teasing or beckoning him. He mumbled “hi”, but couldn’t hear it. The man flinched, so it did hurt him. Yu then just nodded as the man scratched his ear.

“So you’re good?”

Yu nodded.

“Fantastic.”

The man unfolded his arms and then a card formed from thin air, a tarot card. “Here, let me read your fortune,” He randomly asked. Yu raised a brow in confusion and shook his head, trying to get the identity of this man before he agreed to anything. The man tilted his head, “Ya scared? I guess the future can be scary…” He pulled the card under the table. Yu sat quietly and motioned towards him and tilted this head as if asking a question.

The man suddenly was shuffling a deck of cards and pulled one out and looked towards Yu. He then flipped it over. It was the Jester. “Tohru Adachi,” He stated. Yu was still a little confused, but then The man handed Yu the deck. He asked if the teen could pull a card. He ended up drawing the Fool. “Yu Narukami, the wildcard. Fancy.”

Yu leaned on the table and tilted his head. Adachi leaned back and sighed, “They didn’t explain anything, did they?” Adachi then held back a groan and held Yu’s card up.

“The wildcard. It’s like Zero, filled with infinite possibilities. The wildcard is one of many opportunities. See, you’re a special case,” Adachi half-heartedly explained. Yu gave him a confused gaze and he continued. “In the future, stuff will start happening. Lucky you. This stuff will change your life, or something.”

He was switching from sounding amazed to bored. Yu just nodded along. Adachi then took his wrist and put a thumb just below his palm. It definitely caught him off guard. Adachi just kept his eyes closed and then looked up at him, peering one golden eye open. “Evil’s close by, watch your back.”

Yu swallowed hard as Adachi pulled away. He then stood up with the deck of cards and walked towards a wall in the back. He turned towards Yu and blankly stared at him. “You can go now,” He sighed. Well that was short, a little too short. He ended up waking up in the middle of the night. Usually the velvet room would time skip of some sort, but this time, things went slow. He groaned and rolled over. Then the tv flicked on.

It was bright yellow and Yu shot up. He then noticed the sound of rain outside as he looked at the Tv. Was this the midnight channel? He crawled over to the TV and stood in front of it. The picture was extremely blurry, but from the outline he could tell it was a girl with long and curly hair. Whoever this girl was, is his soulmate? But Yu only knew two girls… neither Chie or Yukiko has long, curly hair...Was it someone he didn’t meet yet? He shook his head and tried reaching out to the TV to get a better look. However, something different happened.

His hand went inside.

No, his arm. His arm was in the TV!

He began to panic and tried to pull it out. It was proving difficult as the force seemed to be sucking him in. He tried screaming, only to remember that last he checked, he was the only one home. He then used his leg to prop it on the shelf the TV was sitting on to pull himself back. He fell backwards and hit the back of his head on the small table behind him. Yu heard a slam and then the door swung open.

“Hey?!” Dojima yelled, panic littering his voice. He looked down at Yu and then growled. He didn’t seem mad though. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay...Sorry to have worried you…I just...saw something on TV” Yu scratched the back of his head, which started to bruise. Technically, what he told wasn’t a lie. Dojima sighed in relief and his face relaxed. He put a hand on his chest, “Okay…” He then gave Yu a guilty smile. “By the way, sorry for the mess earlier...I’m never home…”

“I noticed.” The man laughed slightly at Yu’s bluntness, “Thanks for cleaning.” Yu nodded and kept holding the back of his head. Dojima then walked down the steps and returned with a bag of ice. He handed it to Yu and then gave him a stern look. “This is going to seem weird, but for tonight, keep the door open.” Yu held the ice packet against his head and nodded.

That night, he had to sleep on his stomach uncomfortably. He hardly got any sleep due to the bruise on the back of his head, and the fear of the TV turning on again. Dojima may have walked throughout the house a few times before morning hit. Once it did, Yu got out of bed and blinked a few times. His head was throbbing and he rubbed his eyes. Dojima peeked in the room and said good morning before heading downstairs. Dojima was rushing around the house

Yu watched his uncle frantically answer the phone while yelling and put on his shoes as he approached the door, he looked towards Yu and frowned, “I’ll be back by sundown.” Yu nodded as Dojima left in a haste. He approached the fridge and pulled out some ingredients for Miso soup. It wasn’t much, but it would get him through until lunch. He also prepared a bento on the side for lunch. He sat down at the table as he ate. The soup soothed his pain enough for him to head off to school. Though, he was definitely going to tell Chie and Yukiko about the Tv incident.

He doubted they’d believe him though.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re looking for a big TV, specifically one a person could possibly fit into.”
> 
> “Huh? Hee hee Senpai, you can't go inside a TV!” Teddie giggled. Chie scoffed, “I know, this guy had a weird dream and is trying to prove it’s real.” She motioned towards Yu and chuckled. The bear looked at Yu and still smiled widely, just being extremely happy in general. Yu sighed and frowned, “I-it wasn’t a dream.” Teddie beamed, “Okay! Follow the leeeaderrr~!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....happy new yearrr...hahhhah....
> 
> phew, This was supposed to be longer but i didn't want to make this too long or anything, so yknow! Anyway, thank you all for the love and support I've received on this fic for the past few weeks!! I really appreciate it <3!!

“Pft! hAHAHAHA--!!” Yukiko laughed loudly, starting for the fifth time during the conversation. Yu frowned and crossed his arms. “I’m serious!” He exclaimed, exasperated. Chie crossed her legs in her seat. It was at the end of school and even though Yu knew the two girls weren't going to believe him, he didn’t expect them to  _ laugh. _ He supposed from an outside view it could’ve been funny, this crazy new kid talking about how he almost fell inside a TV. But from an insider’s point of view, Yu’s head was hard evidence, and it wasn’t funny at all.

The short-haired girl snickered, “We know you’re serious. That’s what--  _ snrk! _ ” She covered her mouth as she laughed, while Yukiko outwardly showed her amusement. Yu gave them both a deadpan look, mostly annoyed. He stood up from his desk and grabbed his things. “I can prove it to you. At my house.”

Both girls went quiet and Chie had a small grimace on her face, while Yukiko was just finishing up laughing. Chie crossed her arms and gave Yu a suspicious glare. “Uh...Didn’t you say you couldn’t fit in your TV?” Yu pushed in his chair and slung his bag over his own shoulder. Now that he was remembering, the TV was pretty small. He sighed and nodded, “Yeah...Now that I think about it.”

“Ah! I can’t come to your-- _ sNrk-- _ TV Shenani-- _ heehee--gans  _ anyway…” Yukiko replied sadly, “I have to help out at the Inn…”

“Oh, do you want me to hang back too?” Chie replied, turning all of her attention towards Yukiko. The girl smiled slightly and tilted her head. She stood up and grabbed her bags before placing a hand gently atop Chie’s head. “You really do too much for me, “She stifled a laugh, one that seemed more soft than whatever cackling thing she did a minute ago. Chie blinked a few times and her cheeks tinted the slightest bit (From where Yu could see).

She scratched the back of her head and smiled cheekily, “Well I mean… You’re my friend, I’d do anything for you.” 

“No no, go have fun, Narukami doesn’t seem to have any friends to joke to anyway.”

Yu’s mouth formed into a straight line, “I-I’m still here…”

The two girls completely ignored him, “He’ll be fine.” Chie scoffed as Yukiko shrugged, “Hm...Probably,” (“I’m still here…”) “But I don’t want to keep you from your fun…” The girl removed her hand from chie’s head and waved as she walked away, “Bye Chie, Bye Narukami.”

Both the students waved in their friends' absence. Chie leaned over her desk and groaned a bit. Yu made a face and then she turned towards him.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to ditch you or anything…” She explained. Yu raised a brow in suspicion as she continued, “Yukiko’s been working a lot lately. She’s been at school but trying to juggle school and the Inn at the same time.” She shifted in her seat, “I’ve been helping around, but I genuinely am worried about her.”

Yu leaned against his desk, “You two seem close. I’m sure If there was something she needed help with, she’d tell you.”

“We  _ are _ best friends y’know,” She chuckled, “But yeah, I guess you’re right…” Chie sat up in her seat and stretched. She got up and grabbed her bags, “Okay okay, I’ll join you on your TV thing. I know where a TV big enough is.” Yu raised a brow, “You do?”

___

“Hi! Welcome to Junes! Where eveeeeerrrryyyday is customer appreciation day!” The bear exclaimed when addressing Chie and Yu. The girl held her hand up and said a quick “Yo” while Yu smiled and waved. Teddie fidgeted, holding his hands out for a hug and starting to walk towards them, and then going still, putting his hands to his sides. He then smiled widely, “Satonaka-senpai! I haven’t seen you in a while!”

“Yeah… not ever since you broke my stuff.”

“I-it was an accident…” Teddie messed with his fingers and frowned. Yu looked between them and sighed. It seemed like everybody knew each other in this town. Chie sighed and pet the top of his head. She then looked up and scanned the area. “So uh, where’s Saki?” 

“Oh! She’s taking the day off, She had to do a lot of interviews yesterday…”

Yu then found something to say, “Interviews?” Teddie turned his full attention towards him and bounced slightly. Out of excitement or nervousness, he didn’t know. “Mhm! She said she found a body hanging on a Tele-poley! She was beary scared…”

Wait what. “A dead body?” Yu inquired. Teddie whimpered and held his head, “Awh! I don’t like thinking about it!” Chie also shivered and held her arms. “W-well uh, who died?”

“A pretty reporter lady...I think it was...Nano? Meno? Ameno?”

“Mayumi Yamano! Didn’t she have an affair? What if her boyfriend’s wife did it? Or her boyfriend? Aghh! It must’ve been so creepy for Saki…” Chie rambled, her voice getting more wary as she went on. Teddie trembled and shut his eyes. “Mmm! I don’t wanna think!”

“Calm down. Let’s move onto another topic.” Yu stated calmly. Teddie and Chie nodded. The girl then turned to Teddie curiously, “We’re looking for a big TV, specifically one a person could possibly fit into.”

“Huh? Hee hee Senpai, you can't go inside a TV!” Teddie giggled. Chie scoffed, “I know, this guy had a weird dream and is trying to prove it’s real.” She motioned towards Yu and chuckled. The bear looked at Yu and still smiled widely, just being extremely happy in general. Yu sighed and frowned, “I-it wasn’t a dream.” Teddie beamed, “Okay! Follow the leeeaderrr~!” He turned on his, (Heels? What kind of bear costume…) and began hopping down one of the aisles. Him and Chie followed behind him. He took the opportunity to strike up a conversation.

“So, how do you know Teddie?”

Chie mentally paused. Her eyes brows furrowed and she put a finger to her chin in thought. She hummed lowly, as if this was the hardest thing for her to remember. “I...huh… weird…” She mumbled. Chie then looked towards Yu and shrugged. The transfer student raised a brow, “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I mean, I don’t know? It’s like...I remember, but I don’t...Like there’s a piece missing…” She looked down at the tiled floors and then at Teddie’s back. “Yo Ted, how did we meet?” The bear didn’t stop walking or look back at her. He seemed to hum in confusion as well. He shrugged too, “We were introduced, I think. My memory is beary blurry…” 

Yu just sighed, “So you guys were childhood friends or something.

“Huh? No I’ve only known Teddie for four months or something…”

“Mhm!...Wait...No it was six Senpai!”

“Pretty sure it was four…”

“Six!”

“Four”

“Six!!”

“ _ Four!” _

Yu shook his head as the two kept on. They kept going about how the other was remembering things wrong, but neither of them knew what was right, just that the other was wrong. Chie kept insisting that the two knew each other for four months or lower and were introduced by Yukiko. Teddie kept trying to tell her that they knew each other for six months, but didn’t know who introduced them.

“Why would Yukiko know you for six months?”

“Grr! I keep telling you it wasn’t Yukiko-Senpai!!”

“Then who else could’ve possibly introduced us?! It’s not like you have any friends!”

Teddie was about to retaliate but just whined instead. His face completely fell and the suit looked like it was about to cry. On instant Yu kneeled down in front of him, not noticing how they were now in the electronics department. He pet Teddie on the top of his head and looked back at Chie, “That wasn’t really nice Satonaka…” The girl looked regretful and scratched her head, even though she wasn’t completely serious about the remark, she should’ve known it would hurt Teddie. He was a very sensitive bear anyway.

“Sorry, I didn’t entirely mean it… But I shouldn’t have said that…”

“It’s okay...I’m not too sad about it anyway…” He said in a low voice. Both the students raised a brow. Yu spoke up first, still petting him as if he was an actual bear, “You’re tearing up…”

“I know… I’m just trying to remember who introduced us but….” He sniffed as the tears were now falling (through the suit...oddly,) and Yu wiped them away. Teddie continued, “I can’t remember...but something feels bad….” 

“If you can’t remember, don’t stress. I’m sure it will come back to you soon. Okay?” He reassured the bear. Teddie whimpered and then hugged him tightly. “Your bear-y nice…” He remarked. Yu patted his back, “T...thank you. “ He tried to keep the questioning tone out of his voice. The bear then let go and looked around. 

“Oh! We’re here!” He exclaimed, immediately perking up. Yu stood up and looked at Chie who was lost in thought, probably about her memories as well. She then snapped out of it and nodded. “Oh, Cool! Which one should we try?”

“Hmmm….” They walked towards a widescreen TV and stopped in front of it. “What about this one? It’s big enough for you?” 

Chie then chuckled lightheartedly, “Teddie, I’m pretty sure it was just a joke, we don’t really need a big TV…” Yu looked towards her and shook his head, “No, I’m serious, my arm went straight through!” Both Teddie and Chie looked at each other and approached the TV. Chie put her hand on it while Teddie unzipped the suit slightly to reach out and put his hand on the Tv as well. Yu couldn’t get a glimpse of the bear’s appearance though.

They both looked back at him, Teddie back in his suit now. “So, neither of us went in,” Chie explained. Teddie nodded with her. Yu walked up to it in exasperation, “No, I seriously went through, you have to believe me…”

“Well, Narukami-san, if you really want to, you can try!” Teddie reassured innocently. Yu smiled slightly. Chie then spoke up, “Sure, If you wanna live out your fantasy, go ahead.” He nodded and then walked up to the TV. The two others were watching intently.

Yu placed his hand through, and to his relief and mortification. His arm went through. Chie was on high alert and rushed forward. “Woah! What the--?!” She tried moving from different angles, but what she was seeing was indeed real. Yu glanced toward her and grumbled, “I told you.”

“WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” Teddie wailed loudly. He was flailing his arms around and causing a bit of a scene. Chie shushed him and he just screamed slightly quieter. “I-I DIDN’T THINK YOU’D ACTUALLY GO INNN!!!”

“Yeah! Nobody did! Now be quiet! Someone might see--” She looked towards Yu only to notice him shift to kneel on the TV stand. “I wonder if i can go further…” He said as he put half his body inside the TV. While inside...all he could see was a bundle of white. It looked like a long fall. He couldn’t hear exactly what was going on with Chie and Teddie, but he did feel something furry on his ankle, trying to pull him back through. He then felt a harsh push and fell forward, only now noticing that Teddie and Chie fell through too.

He was right, it was a long fall.

And admittedly a painful one.


End file.
